Suction pick-up head



Jan. 10, 1961 R. L. swAR z SUCTION PICK-UP HEAD Filed Sept. 50, 195-7WNZIIZCIJTOR. 34% a. 45:1

United States Patent M SUCTION PICK-UP HEAD Richard L. Swartz, Columbia,S.C., assignor to Universal Business Machines, Iuc., Columbia, S.C., acorporation of South Carolina .Filed Sept. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 687,160

6 Claims. (Cl. 294-64) This invention relates to a device for picking updocuments, one at a time, from the top of a stack of documents. The termdocuments as used herein refers to sheet-like material or articlesgenerally, such as checks, vouchers, receipts, paper money, and thelike.

While not limited to such use, this invention is especially useful indocument-sorting machines of the type disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 2,668,706 issued to Le Roy J. Benson, and a specificapplication of the invention to a sorting machine of this type isdisclosed in my copending application entitled Suction- Head DocumentFeeder filed jointly with William D. I-Iighsmith.

An object of the invention is to devise a pick-up head involving asuction nozzle for lifting the uppermost document from a stack undersuction action.

A further object of the invention is to devise a pick-up head of thesuction type which not only lifts the document from the stack, butbuckles the document under suction action to aid in separating the topdocument from the next lower document.

A specific embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the entire pickup head or device;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the lower end of the suctionnozzle on a considerably enlarged scale with respect to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the enlarged head on the suction nozzle;and

Figure 4 is a view of the enlarged head on the suction nozzle as seenfrom the right of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing, the section head is formed of a suction tubehaving a horizontal shank section 1 and a nozzle section 2 extendingdownwardly from section 1. The lower end of nozzle section 2 is providedwith an enlarged head 3 which is shown substantially full size in Figurel and is shown on a larger scale and in greater detail in Figures 2 to4.

The shank section 1 is provided for the purpose of mounting the pick-uphead for relative movement with respect to a stack of documents so thatthe tip of the nozzle may be moved into contact with the uppermostdocument to remove the document from the stack and then moved totransfer the document to a location adjacent to the stack. Such mountingarrangement forms no part of the present invention, but a suitablearrangement is disclosed in my copending application referred to above.

The tip or head of the nozzle is enlarged with respect to the tubesection 2 for the purpose of having the nozzle cover a relatively largearea of the document and thereby spread the air stream over a largerarea to increase the pull on the document. The enlarged head or tip ofthe nozzle is formed of a cup-shaped part 3 mounted at the lower end oftube section 2 and having an enlarged bore 3a which forms an enlargedextension of the bore in tube section 2. The open end of the member 3 iscovered by 2,967,731 Patented Jan. 10, 1961 a flat plate 4, which plateis provided with an aperture 4a displaced from the center of the platetowards one side of the plate, in the manner shown in Figure 3. It ispreferred that the aperture 4a shall be an elongated aperture with itsmajor axis arranged parallel with the axis of the shank portion 1, butdisplaced to one side of the common plane containing the axes of tubesections 1 and 2. Thus, in Figure 3 the broken line 1a represents thecommon plane containing the axes of tube sections 1 and 2, and thebroken line 4a represents the major axis of the aperture 4a. The outerface of plate 4, in the area 4b in Figure 3, and located between thelower edge of aperture 4a and the bottom edge portion of the plate, issmoothly rounded as shown in Fig. 4 to provide a rounded surface forengaging the top of the stack with the nozzle tilted at differentangles. For greatest pick-up eflfect, the nozzle would be lowered intopick-up position with the lower face of the head 3 parallel with the topof the stack, and this would be the position of operation to pick upheavy paper. For use in connection with relatively thin paper, thenozzle would be lowered into pick-up position with the tube section 2tilted about the axis of shank section 1 so that the rounded portion 4bis lowermost and would engage the top of the stack. The initial amountof pull on the top document can be varied by varying the angle of tiltof the nozzle, thereby varying the angle of the bottom face of plate 4with respect to the top of the stack.

For the purpose of aiding in the separation of the top document from thenext lower one, the plate 4 is milled or otherwise formed to provide ashallow groove 40 covering substantially all of the area above theaperture 4a as seen in Figure 3 and extending at right angles to themajor axis of the aperture. It will be understood that as the suction ofthe nozzle pulls the top document into contact with the lower face ofplate 4, the document is buckled upwardly into contact with thecylindrically curved surface of the shallow groove 40. This bucklingaction serves to ensure positive separation of the top document from thenext lower one, especially in the case of heavy paper stock.

For use in connection with light paper stock, a second groove 4d with acylindrically curved bottom is formed at the bottom of the groove 4c. Asshown in Figure 2, this groove 4d has a much shorter radius of curvaturethan the shallow groove 40 and is of considerably smaller width than thegroove 40. This will result in greater buckling of thin paper into thegroove 4d.

For the purpose of further aiding the pick-up and buckling action, athird groove 4e is formed at the bottom of groove 4d. As shown inFigures 2 and 3, this groove is relatively narrow with respect to theother grooves and is provided with parallel sides and a sloping bottomwhich increases in depth from substantially zero near the outer edge ofthe plate 4 to substantially the full depth of the plate at the edge ofaperture 4a. In Figure 4 the dotted line 40' and 4d represent thebottoms of grooves 4c and 4d, respectively, while the slanting line 40'represents the bottom of groove 40.

What I claim is:

l. A suction pick-up head comprising a tube, a fiat wall member securedto and lying across the mouth of said tube and having an aperture formedtherein, said wall having a shallow cylindrical groove no wider than theaperture formed in the outer face thereof extending from the outer edgeof said wall, and terminating at the nearest rim portion of theaperture, a second cylindrical groove formed in the outer face of saidflat wall at the bottom of said shallow cylindrical groove and having ashorter radius of curvature than said shallow groove and coextensivetherewith.

2. A pick-up head comprising a tube formed of a shank section and anozzle section extending v.at right.

angles to the shank section, an enlarged head at the end of said nozzlesection and having a rigid flat end wall having ,an aperture formedtherein adjacentone side of said head, said aperture being displaced toone-side of the'commoir plane-containing the axes of-said shank sectionand said nozzle section, andsaid end .wall'having a shallowcylindricalgroove no wider than said aperture.

formed in the outer face thereof at right angles tosaid plane extendingfrom the oppositeside of said head and terminating at the rim of, theaperture closest to said opposite side, said end wall being providedwith a second cylindrical groove formed in: the outer face thereofwat.

the bottom of said shallow cylindrical groove and having a shorterradius of curvature than said shallow groove and coextensive therewith.

3. A pick-up head according-to claim vl wherein said' fiat wall isprovided with a narrowparallel-sided groove formed in the outer facethereof at the bottom: of said second cylindrical groove and increasingin depth from near the outer edge of said wall to' the rim of saidaperture.

4. A pick-up head according to claim 2Iwherein said' end wall isprovided with a narrow parallel-sidedgroove formed in the outer facethereof at the bottom of said second..cylindricaligroove and increasingin depth, from near the edge of said head to the rim of said aperture.

5. A pick-up head according to claim 2 wherein said aperture is anelongated aperture having its major axis parallel with the axis of saidshank section.

6. A pick-up head according to claim 5 wherein the outer edge portion ofthe face of said enlarged head is smoothly rounded from theouter edge ofsaid elongated aperture to the outer peripheral edge of said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS696,186 Orlofi' Mar. 25, 1902 740,534 Cleathero Oct. 6, 1903 783,206Juengst Feb. 21, 1905 1,252,280 McDonald Jan. 1, 1918 1,278,105 CampbellSept. 10, 1918 1,495,881 Bunger May 27, 1924 1,562,557 Henderson Nov.24, 1925 1,737,401- Atzert Nov. 26, 1929 1,791,760 Kline Feb. 10, 19312,128,200 Allen Aug. 23, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 282,352. Germany Feb. 26,1915

